Baseball

Baseball Splits With Eastern Connecticut

NORTH DARTMOUTH, MA- Junior designated hitter Matt Ryan (Uxbridge, MA/Uxbridge HS) hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the game and junior first baseman Anthony Fiorita (North Reading, MA/St. John's Prep) singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 11th to give the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's baseball team a 6-5 victory over visiting Eastern Connecticut State in the first game of their Little East Conference doubleheader at the UMass Dartmouth Athletic Complex Saturday. The Warriors won the second game, 5-4, and earned a split of the doubleheader.

Junior catcher Zak Talis (Lynnfield, MA/Lynnfield HS) led off the bottom of the ninth by being hit with a pitch by reliever Will Musson (Wethersfield, CT/Wethersfield HS). Ryan followed with his homer to tie the score.

Senior left fielder Tom LaDore (Milford, CT/Foran HS) led off the bottom of the 11th with a single against senior Mike Tingley (Rockville, CT/Rockville HS), the fourth ECSU pitcher, Sophomore second baseman Dan Demello (Taunton, MA/Taunton HS) bunted LaDore to second, and Fiorita singled to score LaDore.

Talis singled in a run for the Corsairs in the first, and freshman right fielder Nick Fuller (New Bedford, MA/New Bedford HS) doubled home two more in the third. Junior center fielder Joe Cousineau (Newington, CT/Newington HS) hit a sacrifice fly to put the Warriors on the board in the fifth, junior designated hitter Jim Schult. (Wappingers Falls, NY/John Jay Senior HS) doubled home two more, and senior left fielder Chris Thomson (Montville, CT/Montville HS) put ECSU ahead with a two-run homer in the eighth. Junior Brian Pedrotti (Dalton, MA/Wahconah Regional HS), the third Corsair pitcher, earned the win and improved to 3-2. Tingley took the loss and dropped to 1-2.

In the nightcap, sophomore catcher Steve Cammuso (Rutland, MA/Wachusett Regional HS) singled in two runs in the fifth to give the Warriors a 2-0 lead. Ryan doubled home a run for UMD in the sixth. Cammuso's sacrifice fly in the seventh made it 3-1, and sophomore third baseman John Granahan (Hanover, MA/Hanover HS/Southern Maine) singled home a run for UMass Dartmouth to make it 3-2. Senior third baseman Melvin Castillo (Danbury, CT/Danbury HS) hit a two-run homer in the eighth. The Corsairs scored twice in the bottom of the eighth on DeMello's RBI single and a sacrifice fly by Fuller.

Senior Matt Fontaine (Cranston, RI/Cranston East HS) went all the way for the win, improving to 5-1. UMD starter Aaron Brunette (Fr. North Andover, MA/North Andover HS) took the loss and fell to 2-2.

"We played hard against a good team, and either game could have gone either way," said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Bob Curran. "Matt Ryan and Anthony Fiorita got the big hits for us in the first game, and we got good pitching all day. We were in the hunt in both games."

The Corsairs are now 19-15 and 7-5 in Little East Conference play, and have clinched a spot in the post-season LEC Tournament. The Warriors are now 26-9 and 8-4 in LEC play. UMass Dartmouth will return to action when they host Brandeis Sunday. ECSU will host Roger Williams Tuesday.